M. Golf takes fifth at Georgetown Invite

Playing under harsh weather conditions, the Penn men's golf team battled to a fifth-place finish at the Georgetown Invitational this past weekend. The 16-team tournament was held not in D.C., but rather in Leesburg, Va., at the Lansdowne Resort. Penn fired scores of 312 and 314 on days one and two, respectively. The team score of 626 was respectable, considering the strong wind blowing through the Virginia course on both days of competition. Peyton Wallace, who finished tied for third on the team, attributed the wind to making the same golf course that the Quakers conquered last year much more of a challenge. In addition, the greens were dry, creating difficulty in sticking approach shots on the green. "The wind was really swirly and gusty, so it was unpredictable," Wallace said. "The greens were very firm," he added. Penn sophomore Chad Perman fared best among the Quakers. The 2000 All-Ivy selection as a freshman finished in 10th place overall with a two-day score of 153. "I think being patient and just trying to make par allowed me to finish 10th in the difficult, windy conditions. Becoming frustrated in difficult conditions only makes things worse," Perman said. The Red and Blue's fifth-place finish was not the result that the team hoped for in its final fall tournament. Penn had finished in second place in its two tournaments prior to the Georgetown Invitational. "The team did not play particularly well, but we can only compare ourselves to the field," Perman said. However, finishing ahead of rival Princeton enabled the Quakers to leave D.C. with a great deal of pride. The Quakers edged out the Tigers by two strokes. "Beating Princeton was nice psychologically, as well as rankings-wise. We helped ourselves by beating a lot of teams in our district," Perman said. In the four tournaments that both the Quakers and Tigers have played in this year, Penn has placed higher twice. "They had beaten us twice, and that [tournament] evened our record against them. We're always happy to beat Princeton," Wallace said. Penn State and Seton Hall prevailed in the 16-squad invitational. The tournament co-champions shot team scores of 606.

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